The verdict is in: the UB Mock Trial team is on a roll.
The club placed in the top seven last weekend at the Mid-Eastern Regional Tournament in Indiana, Pa., earning a berth in the National Tournament in Richmond, Ky.
For the club's members, like junior sociology and legal studies major Dan Nickolai, mock trial is combines the drama of "Law and Order" with the intensity of varsity sports.
"People that want to join the club are usually just people who want to go to law school," said Nickolai. "They don't realize that it is also about acting."
At the start of the season, mock trial teams are given a thick book that contains a mock case. In the trials, the teams face off against one another - one plays the prosecution, another the defense.
Team members play attorneys and witnesses. Judges preside over the trial and grade each team on their presentation.
This year's case, State of Midlands v. Michael W. Harmon, is a murder case about a professional hockey player who was killed during a playoff game by his opponent.
UB's mock trial team faces a unique challenge. While most collegiate mock trial teams have either a coach or a mock trial class, UB has neither, forcing their members to prepare carefully and thoroughly by themselves.
And unlike other schools, UB's team - which does not have sponsors - must fund raise to pay for competitions.
"We have to do a lot of fundraising and community service to make money for our team," said team member Carrie Zimbardi, a sophomore legal studies major.
The team meets Mondays and Thursdays every week from 9 p.m. until midnight to prepare.
"It is really challenging to find time to do this," said team member Vanessa Graf, a junior political science and sociology major. "I was on the track team, and this is way more exhausting."
Over the next week, the team expects to cram hard for Nationals, where they will face competition from the nation's top private schools, including Columbia and Cornell.
"Sometimes it gets frustrating and you want to quit," Zimbardi said. "But when you hear UB called in front of schools such as Columbia and Yale, it is all worth it."
Earlier this season, the team competed in invitational events at Brown, Columbia and Yale.
Nickolai said the invitationals are a primary to get you ready for the regional competitions. He and Megan Murray, a freshman biology major, have received individual awards at regional competitions.
"When you are competing against two or three hundred people, it is very rare to get an individual award," Zimbardi said.
The team is split up between the A-team and the B-team. The A-team, made up of the more experienced students, will be going to Nationals.
The B-team has also had a strong year - they won an honorable mention award for spirit from the American Mock Trial Association.
Though the entire team won't be competing at Nationals, Mock Trial members consider their success to be a team effort.
"The support the entire team has given has been great," said Graf.
